This revision comes from a postgraduate economics essay, by a Korean student:

Original	Revision
... Every model has its own shortfall	... Every model has its own shortcomings

While both shortfall and shortcoming suggest a failure to reach a target or desired aim, the first is quantitative (answering the question how much? and the second qualitative (answering the question in what way?, as the following citations show. Note also that the plural shortcomings is more common than the singular:

1. need not be due to any moral shortcoming in the government. Even assuming ...
2. The only significant shortcoming in the Dearing report was its failure to ...
3. The most significant shortcoming of present-day models is their treatment ...
4. effects of congestion. These shortcomings have been progressively overcome through ...
5. polytechnic buildings had "shortcomings in important areas". Nearly half the sc
6. new work, despite numerous shortcomings in the computers that are supposed to m
7. One of the major shortcomings of the buy-class framework is the way ...
8. re than compensates for the shortcomings of the passive elements. The one proper
9. In spite of its shortcomings, the material contained in the book ...
10. say, amongst the so obvious shortcomings: too big, too old, too nervous, too dull ...

1. extra loans to prevent the shortfall being larger still. Had Eurotunnel failed ...
2. bid to balance the budget shortfall by increasing taxes - already the highest ...
3. materials instead of cobalt. A shortfall in supplies of chromium and manganese, ...
4. energy shortages caused by a shortfall in Soviet oil deliveries.
5. Social Security's review of the shortfall of contributions to contributory benefits, ...
6. directors with an estimated shortfall of £384m.
7. The $77bn shortfall was the worst since December 1988 ...
8. on it by the ministry. The shortfall was being met by imported eggs from countries ...
9. economy means that the real shortfall, almost certainly, is much higher.
10. the outlook for the trade shortfall, the July deficit was revised upwards to ...